The Fertility Factor

“No, my nurse and I left late and got stuck. And don’t make anything of it. I could have been stuck in there with the janitor.”

“Well, she’s certainly a lot more interesting.”

Unbelievably so. “Joey tells me you’re dating,” he said to distract her from more questions about him and Lara waiting for rescue in the elevator.

“No one you know.” A serious, almost worried look settled on her face. “Derek, I need to tell you something.”

Instinctively his stomach tightened. She wasn’t smiling.

“I’m leaving.”

He’d never liked surprises. He liked this one even less than most, he decided as she explained herself.

“To spend time at the Paris Institute will be a marvelous opportunity for me.”

He knew it must be or she wouldn’t go. “What about Joey?” he asked while he dealt with a mixture of emotions: pride, annoyance and disbelief.

“I’m not worried about him. You’re a wonderful father.”

“But you won’t be here when he needs you.”

She turned a sad look on him.

Don’t look at me like that. She didn’t have to say anything. He knew what she was thinking. Because he’d had a rotten childhood, he believed Joey might have one if she wasn’t around for a while.

He’d already broken a promise he’d made to himself when his son was born. He’d vowed Joey wouldn’t go through what he had as a child. So much for promises. He and Rose had divorced, shattered their son’s family.

“Derek, Joey is well adjusted. And this will be good for him in one way. He’ll only be living in one residence for a while.” Rose gave him a weak smile. “I’ll tell him when it’s almost time for me to leave.”

Joey deserved better than what they were giving him.

Derek couldn’t get that thought out of his head. He left the hospital and crossed the street. He had a three-o’clock appointment at Manhattan Multiples with a woman who’d recently received the news she was expecting three or maybe four babies.

Inside the center, he rode the elevator to the third floor. Rose would explain to Joey what was happening. A simplistic solution. Nothing was that simple. If Joey was upset, he’d come to Derek for answers. And children were resilient. At an early age hadn’t he learned how to handle disappointment?

“Dr. Cross, you have a call on line two,” the appointment clerk said as he strode by.

With a nod, he hurried into his office and grabbed the telephone from his desk. “Derek, it’s your father.”

Annoyance rose within him in a flash. What could his father possibly want?

“I’ll be in town for a few days. I thought we could meet.”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m in Acapulco.”

He’d thought his father was in Europe with wife number four. Alone? Derek wanted to ask, but why bother? He’d never really known his father’s last wife.

“I’ll call you when I get in,” his father added before hanging up.

Brief, to the point. All of their conversations were the same. Why the stopover in New York? It had been years since they’d seen each other.

Even before his mother had died, he’d never known the love and affection from his parents that Lara felt from hers. Maybe that was why envy had fluttered inside him when she’d talked about her family. Dumb thinking, he decided. His family was Joey now. His son was all he needed.

The moment Lara entered the center, Josie and Carrie cornered her. “We have a plan.”

“For you,” Carrie said, pointing a finger at her.

Lara stopped at the front desk to scan the next hour’s appointments. Oh, great. “What plan?”

“For your problem. You know about—” Nearby footsteps silenced her.

Derek nodded his head in their direction, then settled at a counter nearby and scribbled notations on a patient’s chart. Few could decipher his chicken scratch. Lara numbered among those few.

Carrie whispered, “I’ve talked to several of the nurses who work at the center and the hospital and friends you have here. We’ve decided your problem is real.”

Lara slanted a look at Derek. She’d swear the edge of his lips had twitched in a grin at that announcement.

“So we’ll help.”

“Help?” Lara decided she’d better concentrate on Carrie. “Help how?” If standing on a street corner and wearing one of those signs that would advertise for a husband was part of their plan, she was refusing.

She was thankful Derek had chosen that moment to leave. He stood at the end of the hallway, talking to his ex-wife. Possibly he still had feelings for her. Perhaps that’s why he’d avoided involvement with other women.

“We’re all—”

“How many of you are there?” Lara asked Carrie.

“Eight. We’re going to hunt among friends—male friends—and our relatives to help you find your Mr. Right.”

“Wait—” What was she going to say? Don’t do this. Why? This was exactly what she needed if she was serious about having a baby. She’d depleted her own resources for an interesting man, someone she’d want to spend the rest of her life with. Because despite the urgency she felt about having children, she wouldn’t act impulsively. Mancinis married for keeps.

On the stairwell, they joined Allison Baker. “Eloise announced she’s going to throw a small fund-raiser this month for Manhattan Multiples.”

“I don’t understand how the mayor can even consider cutting funds to us,” Carrie said as they entered the staff lounge.

Lara agreed. The center provided prenatal care, counseling service, fertility specialists, day care, yoga classes and meditation for mothers-to-be. While Lara liked the mayor, she wondered if Bill Harper’s motives for making Eloise’s life miserable weren’t personal. She’d heard gossip that they had had a past. Lara didn’t know if that was true.

“I’d love to go to the fund-raiser,” Carrie said.

Josie shook her head. “I doubt we’d provide the kind of donations Eloise is looking for.”

“Too bad,” Carrie murmured. “It would be an excuse to buy a new black dress.”

Josie shrugged. “I don’t own one.”

“You look wonderful in what you do wear,” Lara said because Josie leaned toward denim everything.